More Realization of what He did for us.

I grew up in church so all my life I've heard Jesus died for our sins. It's hard to imagine what or where we would be today if Jesus hadn't done that. But Jesus spoke to me the other day about this and I feel like it 'sunk' in more.

Jesus, you came to this earth, you walked this earth. You left your throne in Heaven, you were tempted in every way and you overcame sin, you conquered sin! You died for us, the worst way to die. All for us, each and every  person that has been born and will be born. Just so maybe, maybe we would decide to come spend eternity with you and love you.

He wants us. Our love. He wants a relationship with us.

God is not a mean God. If he was would he have sent his only son down to earth to die for us for that sliver of a chance that I would choose him?

unity. peace. love.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12

     God's word tells us that the enemy is out to destroy us and our relationships. Why then do I give into my flesh way of thinking and believe the lies that the enemy is telling me? Why do I give into my emotions and go the opposite way of what the Lord is doing in me? No matter how I feel I need to do what God has called me to do. That is to love. To love my husband, family, friends, neighbor, enemies, everyone. 

     After some series of events that have happened the Lord is really showing me and convicting me of unity. We need to stand by our sisters and brothers in Christ and show them love, encourage them, speak life into them. If we don't then who will? 

     to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Ephesians 4:12-13

     Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephesians 4:15-16

     Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:3

     God's word talks about us (God's children) as Christ's body. You could also relate it to a train. As Jesus as the engine(head) and us(the church) as the cars, if they weren't connected some of them would be stuck, just sitting there. We all need to be connected, in unity.

     We need each other. So, lets get along. Let's love one another. Let's keep peace. Let us be united in Christ as the body. We won't function properly if we aren't united. 

Blessings.

     Today I realized how important this blogging is for me. I need to write down what God is doing in my life because I start to forget! I had to look back on his promises he has given to me that yes, he does have great plans for me.(Jeremiah 29:11)  He does love me and has chosen me, pursued me from the time I was little. (Ephesians 1:4-5)

     I feel very blessed to have the friends that I have. The Lord has special plans for each one of us. These friendships are rooted and established in the Lord so they are for eternity. These friendships are different than any friendships I have had before. We can all be so raw and real with each other.

     My husband, my best friend. :) I am thankful for him, for the man of God that he is! One of the things that I really admire about him is that he wants what is right and what God has called us to do. It blows my mind of how much wisdom he has. He is always looking out for everyone else. He is a servant. I am excited for what the Lord has for us and for all the adventures we get to go on together with Him.

     I am so thankful for Jackie. I don't know where I would be today if it wasn't for her, seriously. When I moved home two years ago I started talking to her because I knew she loved Jesus and I knew Jesus is what I needed and Jesus was pursuing me and He was using Jackie to get to me! :) She took me under her 'wing' and we have been best friends since then. This friendship has also been really hard for both of us but it is so worth working our differences out.  I really love her. <3 OH AND BY THE WAY, WE ARE COUSINS! haha. ;) She also introduced me to my wonderful husband :) Jackie is full of joy, she is exuberant for the Lord and I am always delighted to see what God is doing in her, taking her to the higher places. :)

     Carly. She is so encouraging and I have loved seeing her grow and be obedient to what the Lord has called her to do. Jesus is totally romancing her and I can just see her falling in love with Him more and more. I am extremely excited for her next few months with her adventure with Jesus. She is such a light. I am always being blown away by how the Lord is using her.

     Nikki. I have loved becoming friends with her. She is an inspiration to me. Always full of Joy! I love seeing her passion for the youth. Her heart is for the Lord and what His will is. Obedient. She is such a light to everyone she knows. She is someone you look at and you know she is different, she has that glow to her. That radiance.

     Jr and these girls mean so much to me. I can call them my best friends. They all hold a very, very special place in my heart. They all are handsome & beautiful inside and out. They radiate Jesus. They are obedient. They are men & women of God.

     Glendive Alliance Church is a special place. I feel blessed having seen this church transformed. From the old church on Clay street with maybe 100-150 people? to building the church on Highland Park Road with 500 people in service over Easter weekend. Now God has called us to build a new church. Our church has purchased land right across the street. I am eager for the building process to begin. I cannot wait to see what the Lord is going to do with our church. Our congregation is also very blessed to have the pastor we have, the worship pastor, and all the elders. They all love the Lord very much and want His will only.

I am glad this blog turned into My Blessings. :) Everyone needs to be reminded every once in awhile of how special you are to someone. I love you all!

Breaking the Chains

     I went to Sidney last night for a prayer meeting by our friend Charles Musanda. He was speaking on prayer and fasting. He told us he had a dream that he was at an airport with president Bush and he was holding a small suitcase. Charles asked Bush where he was going and Bush said I'm still the worlds sheriff. I'm going out for justice. Charles woke up that morning thinking that was a weird dream. He later seen the Billings Gazette saying Osama was dead and president Bush saying 'justice is served.'
     Charles is from Africa and he said when a lion that has been attacking his people gets killed they take a day of celebration. So yesterday was Charles' celebration because one of the 'lions' got killed. He is now asking people to fast and pray with him for three days for the National Day of Prayer.

     The first day, which is today is the day to pray to break bondages in family. Second day is for the Church. Praying that the Holy Spirit will come upon us and we will be like the church of Acts! Third day is for our Government and the Awakening that must come.
   
     2 Corinthians 10:4 "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds." The Lord is faithful and I believe he will bless us for fasting and praying for these bondages to be broken. Jesus wants our families to be free, free of sin and full of his peace. Be praying for your family today. Whatever they are in bondage to that Jesus will break that and set them free. I know I want to see my family experience the Jesus of the Bible, the true Jesus.

Rainy Day

      Friday was a “rainy day” for me. You know one of those days where you wake up tired and don’t want to do anything but sleep on the couch and watch movies all day. Those days when you don’t feel like spending time with Jesus.

      As I was laying on the couch all I could think about was spending time with Him and that I needed to. I decided to watch a teaching from Joyce Meyer. After that I then went on to read in “His Princess Warrior- Love Letters for Strength from Your Lord” By Sheri Rose Shepherd. The day’s subject was Rest For the Warrior:

     My Weary Warrior

I am never too tired to carry you when you’re too weak to walk. This is one of the privileges of being My Princess. Take My gift of a Sabbath and rest, My beloved. Allow your body and mind to refuel while you rest. I can lift that heaviness in your heart so you will be more effective. Let Me be your refuge when you’re weary from life. I am the One who wants to bear all burdens. Come rest in Me to receive My perfect peace, which will refresh and renew your strength. Now let go and find rest for your weary soul.

Love,

Your God of perfect peace

     Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”                        Matthew 11:28

     He tells us to come to Him when we are weary (tired) and He will give us rest and renew our strength. Jesus, you are faithful to me even when I don’t feel like spending time with you. He is such a loving God, such a gentleman.

     I was pumped, so I went on to read in my book that I’m reading by Joyce Meyer. The opening verse was:

And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.                                    Galatians 6:9

     Joyce put this as: the Apostle Paul simply encourages us to keep on keeping on! Don’t be a quitter! Don’t have that old “give-up” spirit. God is looking for People who will go all the way through with Him.

     That really hit me. Here I was being selfish and just doing what I wanted to do. Not spending time with the one I love the most. He wants us to push through in the times where we don’t “feel” like it. He has been teaching me lately that our relationship with Him cannot be based on emotions. It has to be based on what His Word says. We have to stand on solid ground. Emotions come and go, but His Word stands forever!

part two: dreams

"Only by the Holy Spirit can one get a true and correct interpretation of dreams, visions, and mysteries of God. From Genesis to Revelation, the true meaning of parables, dreams, mysteries, and "the handwriting of God" were divinely "sealed." That's why magicians, enchanters, wise men, and religious leaders in Egypt and Babylon could not interpret or understand these revelations. Up to this day, no other power besides God can tell a true meaning of a dream, no matter how simple the dream might seem." 

-Dr. Joe Ibojie

"Dreams come from God in the form of a parable language or illustrated stories. These personalized encoded messages are full of symbols that express the mysteries of God. As a result of the symbolism, dreams need some form of interpretation before a proper understanding can be gained. Interpretation can come to the dreamer either spontaneously, after praying to God about the dream, or through a person gifted in dream interpretation. Many people will hesitate to seek the meaning of their dreams, although it is biblical to do so; yet dream interpretation should be a carefully guided effort. Wrong interpretation has the potential to lead a person into bondage." -Dr. Joe Ibojie

"God uses dreams to reveal himself to the heart of man.

God's major purpose for giving us dreams is so that we respond appropriately on earth to what He is doing in Heaven." -Dr. Joe Ibojie

"The message of a dream or vision can come in many ways: as prophecy(most common); a word of knowledge; a gift of discernment; a gift of healing;  a gift of wisdom; or as a gift of interpretation. Solomon was given wisdom in a dream. He woke up wiser and began to demonstrate divine wisdom and respect for human life. 

Dreams have the power to expand, confirm, enlighten, enrich, and deepen your understanding of God's word:

Through dreams, we get more specific details and specific direction for achieving a given task.

Through dreams and visions, God grants us insightful understanding of our own hearts. The apostle Peter's wrong mindset that Gentiles were unclean (which came from his Jewish upbringing) was revealed to him through visions he received from God.

God uses dreams and visions to give us insight into circumstances of life and the true reason behind our experiences."

-Dr. Joe Ibojie

There is a lot more for what God gives us dreams for. I just wanted to write a few. And I really only want to write about what I have experienced.

I had a dream the other night that someone hired me to clean their house. I was folding her laundry in her bedroom and then it transitioned into a History classroom and my friends were there and they were all waiting for me while I was vacuuming the floor. Just cleaning away. I then walked into a room where there was a "food machine" you sat in a chair and the machine read your body impulses for what you needed. 

This book that I have has symbols of what things are. And the most important key is that Dr Joe Ibojie says these are the symbols and their meanings of what God has shown him personally in his life. It isn't only limited to that. And it is only the Holy Spirit that can confirm dreams.

So the symbolism in this book for:

Clean: To make holy, purity. To make righteous. To make ready and acceptable.

Classroom: A time of spiritual preparation.

Food: Spiritual and Physical nourishment, good or evil. To bring increase.

Bedroom: A place of intimacy. A place of rest, sleep or dreams. A place of covenant, a place of revelation.

This is confirmation to me in my heart. I already knew that God was making me more like Him, pulling out those nasty roots. I know that this year is a time of preparation for me and my husband. (this is another story) and with this preparation I need spiritual nourishment, to grow. When you grow you get more intimate with Jesus.

 I am becoming the woman that God has intended me to be.

Remember that saying pain is beauty? I feel like this. Pulling out those deep roots is painful. But becoming like Jesus is beautiful.

God is giving His people dreams all over. My friends and I discuss our dreams often. A lot of the time it is confirmation to us and encouragement for each other.

If anyone is interested in dreams I recommend this book. It has helped a lot and it is exciting when the Holy Spirit confirms to you your dreams. It makes you want Jesus all the more.

step one: uprooting begins

 Okay. So I set this thing up awhile ago and its been at the back of my mind since then. I want to give it a try. I want to write about what God is doing in my life.. in me, in my marriage, my friendships..just every aspect :)
I am praying that this will bring Him glory in some way whether its to give others hope, encouragement, or even if its just for me to process my thoughts better.


    This work that Jesus is doing in me right now goes down deep to my soul. He is pulling out all those nasty roots called jealousy, anger, attitude, selfishness, pride, and no self worth. I am sure there are a lot more than that, but this is what Jesus has showed me so far.
 
 These roots that the enemy has planted in me started when I was little. Like the attitude. As long as I remember I have always had an attitude. My uncle Ed always called me "Fire in the Eyes" I think today my husband refers to this as "the look". I didn't realize that this was a problem until me and Jr started dating. He pointed it out a lot. But me being prideful just pushed it aside.

    Jesus brought me to this place where he told me that I am nothing without Him, so I need to stop doing this on my own. I was broken before him. I didn't realize until Nikki taught on Matthew 5 -The Beatitudes.     
                    
 Those first verses hit me. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
 Matthew 5:3-4 


Being poor in spirit is brokenness and mourn is crying out to Jesus. God blesses us when we are broken and crying? The world portrays those as weak and we should be ashamed if we are. But this is when God wants us to push into him harder when we are down and seems like our world around is is crumbling.


      Jesus is my hope.
 He is making me beautiful.
 He is pulling out what is not of Him.
 He is replacing it with Love, Joy, Righteousness, Purity.




Beautiful Things- Gungor